One of the most underutilized appliance in my kitchen is my crockpot. Sure I use it occasionally, but not nearly enough. When I got the February 2012 issue of Real Simple magazine in the mail, I was excited to see that there was a whole section dedicated to crockpot recipes. In fact, the photo on the cover of these pot pies were enough to make me drool, so I immediately flipped to that section and made a list of things I needed to make that dish. While making the pot pies, I realized that as convenient as it is to use the crockpot, it is also a huge tease. The pot pies smelled so amazing, which made me so hungry, but as soon as I looked at the timer, I realized that I still had another 4 hours to wait! I guess it is my fault for making them on the weekend when I was home all day! Maybe I should start to use the crockpot more often while we are at work, to make meal prep super easy.

In a 4-6 quart slow cooker, mix together the mushrooms, carrots, onion, flour, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 cup water. Place the chicken on top and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cover and cook until the chicken and vegetables are tender, on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Thirty minutes before serving, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a 4 1/2 inch cutter or a large glass, cut the pastry into 4 circles (I just made 4 rectangles). Place the pastry on a baking sheet and bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Ten minutes before serving, add the peas, green beans, cream, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high or low until heated through, 5 to 10 more minutes; remove the bay leaf. To serve, place the chicken mixture in bowls and top with the pastry rounds.